Zechariah 1:12

1:12 The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, ¹  how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem ²  and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?” ³ 

Zechariah 1:19

1:19 So I asked the angelic messenger ⁴  who spoke with me, “What are these?” He replied, “These are the horns ⁵  that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” ⁶ 

Zechariah 8:19

8:19 “The Lord who rules over all says, ‘The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth ⁷  months will become joyful and happy, pleasant feasts for the house of Judah, so love truth and peace.’

Zechariah 10:3

10:3 I am enraged at the shepherds and will punish the lead-goats.

For the Lord who rules over all has brought blessing to his flock, the house of Judah, and will transform them into his majestic warhorse.

Zechariah 10:6

10:6 “I (says the Lord) will strengthen the kingdom ⁸  of Judah and deliver the people of Joseph ⁹  and will bring them back ¹⁰  because of my compassion for them. They will be as though I had never rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and therefore I will hear them.

Zechariah 12:4

12:4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion and its rider with madness. I will pay close attention to the house of Judah, but will strike all the horses ¹¹  of the nations ¹²  with blindness.

Zechariah 12:6

12:6 On that day ¹³  I will make the leaders of Judah like an igniter ¹⁴  among sticks and a burning torch among sheaves, and they will burn up all the surrounding nations right and left. Then the people of Jerusalem will settle once more in their place, the city of Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:5

14:5 Then you will escape ¹⁵  through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. ¹⁶  Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah ¹⁷  of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him.

¹ sn Note that here the angel of the Lord is clearly distinct from the Lord who rules over all himself.

² map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

³ sn The seventy years refers to the predicted period of Babylonian exile, a period with flexible beginning and ending points depending on the particular circumstances in view (cf. Jer 25:1; 28:1; 29:10; Dan 9:2). Here the end of the seventy years appears to be marked by the completion of the temple in 516 b.c., exactly seventy years after its destruction in 586.

⁴ tn See the note on the expression “angelic messenger” in v. 9.

⁵ sn An animal’s horn is a common OT metaphor for military power (Pss 18:2; 75:10; Jer 48:25; Mic 4:13). The fact that there are four horns here (as well as four blacksmiths, v. 20) shows a correspondence to the four horses of v. 8 which go to four parts of the world, i.e., the whole world.

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ sn The fasts of the fifth and seventh months, mentioned previously (7:5), are listed here along with the observances of the fourth and tenth months. The latter commemorated the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians on January 15, 588 b.c. (2 Kgs 25:1), and the former the breach of the city walls on or about July 18, 586 b.c. (Jer 39:2-5).

¹⁰ tn Heb “the house.”

¹¹ tn Or “the kingdom of Israel”; Heb “the house of Joseph.”

¹² tc The anomalous MT reading וְחוֹשְׁבוֹתִים (vÿkhoshÿvotim) should probably be וַהֲשִׁי בוֹתִם (vahashi votim), the Hiphil perfect consecutive of שׁוּב (shuv), “return” (cf. Jer 12:15).

¹³ tn Heb “every horse.”

¹⁴ tn Or “peoples” (so NAB, NRSV).

¹⁶ sn On that day (referring to the day of the Lord) the Davidic monarchy will be restored and the Lord’s people will recognize once more the legitimacy and divine sanction of David’s dynasty. But there will also be a democratizing that will not give Jerusalem and its rulers undue priority over the people of the countryside (v. 7).

¹⁷ tn Heb “a firepot” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “a blazing pot”; NLT “a brazier.”

¹⁹ tc For the MT reading נַסְתֶּם (nastem, “you will escape”) the LXX presupposes נִסְתַּם (nistam, “will be stopped up”; this reading is followed by NAB). This appears to derive from a perceived need to eliminate the unexpected “you” as subject. This not only is unnecessary to Hebrew discourse (see “you” in the next clause), but it contradicts the statement in the previous verse that the mountain will be split open, not stopped up.

²⁰ sn Azal is a place otherwise unknown.

²¹ sn The earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1, is apparently the one attested to at Hazor in 760 b.c.